"I think... I'm the alien star he was talking about." After a long silence, Qi Mingyue's immature voice sounded in Xuantian Palace.
"Do you think I don't know? My son." Qi Xutian put his little body on the dragon bed and kissed him on his white and tender face.
Qi Mingyue couldn't help but be stunned, "I thought that as an Emperor, what you should do at this time is to order me to be killed."
"Do you know why I invited the Grandmaster to your hundred-day banquet?" Qi Xutian lazily laid on his back and let Qi Mingyue rest on his chest, "It was for you."
"For me? Isn't it a custom?"
He didn't expect Qi Xutian to have seen his unusualness a long time ago, or it might be the result of his own inability to cover-up in time because he had not expected that his father in this life would be such a person.
"You only need to know that no matter how different you are, in this life, you are my son. No matter what happens, I will protect you." Qi Xutian's deep and focused eyes as well as his words made Qi Mingyue feel moved. Even while talking to him, he no longer used Imperial We[1].
"Even if I have the power to cause calamity, take the life of my mother, and am destined to not continue the royal bloodline?" For a prince, any one of them was enough for an Emperor to abandon him.
Qi Xutian laughed, "Let calamity come then, when has the world been peaceful anyway? Killing your own mother doesn't bother me, as for the lack of descendants..." Seeing Qi Mingyue's cute little face trying to look serious, he laughed more, "Do you think I care about the blood of the royal family? In this world, it's the capable people who always live! What does MingEr think?"
"You really are ruthless..." For him, his consort mother was only one of the women in the harem. "It seems that even if I really killed my mother one day, you wont't be sad."
"Do you care about her?" After a moment of pondering, Qi Xutian continued, "An Ruolan does treat you well and does a lot of things without leaving traces. For you, all possible dangers were eliminated."
Qi Mingyue remembered those maids who disappeared for no reason. "Mother has treated me very well, but it's not like that. I think no one in the world would like to take the life of their mother."
Not knowing what Qi Xutian thought of, he sighed, "If one day, you must kill her..."
"I won't let her die by my hands."
"And then?"
"Then? I'll naturally continue to live my life," he sneered lightly, "Don't forget, I'm the so-called alien star. I have nothing to do with her except this body. Unless you want me to die for her?" Moreover, his consort mother was not a weak and innocent woman. Some of her concern for him was because of maternal love, and it was also for her own future that his birth symbolised. He always knew that but didn't care.
"You're really ruthless..." Qi Xutian said but the smile in his eyes revealed his approval. He knew that the child in front of him was not weak.
"I'm not ruthless, just different from other people." Qi Mingyue never thought he was cold-blooded and ruthless, but he was not a kind-hearted person either.
After listening to his words, Qi Xutian laughed, "It turns out that MingEr is just like me, no wonder I like you." He patted the child on his chest. He closed his eyes slightly, not knowing what kind of thoughts went through his mind, "I don't know if in your eyes I'm like your mother? Someone to throw away?"
Qi Mingyue was helpless, and his small body was lying in Qi Xutian’s arms and he scanned his face, "Your blood runs through my veins, but in a sense, I am not your son. Don't you mind that?"
"I have said that you are my son in this life, but in MingEr's heart, who am I?"
Facing Qi Xutian's gloomy eyes, Qi Mingyue recalled what he had said before and couldn't help but call out seriously, "...Father Emperor."
At this moment, he agreed with the man in front of him not because of that remark, but because he was powerful. It was true that people who stuck to the powerful could ensure their own safety. Until the day he himself become powerful, he would temporarily believed those words.
Qi Xutian held him in his arms and sighed with satisfaction. After a moment, Qi Mingyue felt the vibrations under his body and raised her head in doubt. Qi Xutian raised her lips and laughed loudly. "I was thinking of MingEr's serious face and couldn't help it..." Unable to finish the sentence, he laughed again.
Qi Mingyue understood that a child's face was not suitable for any adult actions at the moment. He reached out and wiped off the drool that spewed out of his mouth automatically. He murmured: "It seems that it is still too early to speak."
"Naturally. Moreover, MingEr's milk teeth haven't grown yet," Qi Xutian reached out to help him wipe away the saliva on his lips. Seeing the pink lips were bright and cute, he couldn't help but peck them. "You spoke a lot today, well done. ”
Qi Mingyue remembered that he was a child with no teeth at the moment. He didn't know how Qi Xutian understood many of the words he said before... "It must be hard for Father Emperor to understand."
This time he paid attention to what he said. Sure enough, it was soft, light, and hardly understandable. He couldn't have imagined he would see such a day.
Qi Xutian saw his various changing expressions and couldn't help laughing, "Does MingEr know how cute he looks while talking?!"
Glancing at him, "Thank you for Father Emperor's praise, I believe you were as lovely as me when you were a child." Closing his eyes, Qi Mingyue found that the strength of young children was really limited. At this moment, he seemed to have used all of all his energy and was exceedingly sleepy. "Wonderful Father, can you let someone take me back to Zixia Palace?"
"MingEr's tired?" The answer to his question was soft breathing, he seemed to have already fallen asleep.
Qi Xutian pulled the quilt by the side, gently embraced him, and covered the two of them with it. The look in his eyes gradually drifted away, as if looking into the distant past.
Tan Wu was a half-immortal. If he didn’t beg for his own death, he couldn't take his life. Although Tan Wu's words at that time made his young-self lose all dependance and he was almost killed by his loved ones until the fulfillment of that prophacy.
Therefore, even though Qi Xutian hated the existence of Tan Wu, he knew that the power of Tan Wu was unparalleled in the world. Why not use it? So he continued to be imprisoned in the palace and even a chain was added. He could not die, but he had to pay for what he had said.
Turning his eyes to the child in his arms, Qi Xutian couldn't help but recall the first time he saw him. He was holding the child in his arms, and the child opened his eyes slightly while he was talking, his eyes that flowed like water seemed to inadvertently scan his face and then quietly close them again; it was then he had noticed his strangeness.
At the hundred-day banquet, Consort An and Consort Hua were intentionally seated on the side, he noticed him not crying or making any noise, his little face showed impatience. Qi Xutian found it was quite interesting.
In fact, it was a bit selfish. Thinking that he may have someone whose fate was similar to himself, the future days would no longer be boring. As long as Tan Wu said something in front of everyone, this child would be the same as himself, struggling to survive. What would he do? Thinking about it, it was something to look forward to.
But he didn't expect that Tan Wu had already considered this variable and when he said everything, the child's fate was already determined which was more terrifying compared to how he was back then. Fortunately, there was the Eldest Prince who could bear half of the public's doubt.
Later, when he heard the child's soft and fuzzy voice, he was surprised at his personality. He wondered if there could be such a person in the world. Being as soft and calm as water, but unexpectedly, he could also be as cold as ice. He was so full of contradictions. What experience did he go through to make him this way?
At this moment, he suddenly regretted that he should not have let Tan Wu have the opportunity to say those damn words. He shouldn't have let this child know his possible future. He had already promised his safety and gotten the word[2] "Father Emperor" from his mouth.
In this way, he should be able to grow up smoothly until a certain day... he would be able to witness Tan Wu's words.
Bringing calamity.
Killing his own mother.
Never to have descendants.
Indus' Notes:
[1] If you've read novels with an ancient setting, you must be aware that Emperors don't simply say 'I' to refer to themselves, instead, it's We (for the lack of a better word in English). It's meant to represent their highest noble status. Since Qi Xutian dropped the usage of honourary words, he's more or less seeing Qi Mingyue as an equal.
[2] In Chinese, it's a single word Fuhuang.
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